West Central baseball earned a spot in the State B Tournament with two wins in Region 3B play on Tuesday, May 24th. West Central defeated Baltic 4-0 and Sioux Falls Christian 12-7.
West Central 4, Baltic 0
Jack Linneman drove home the first run for West Central in the bottom of the first inning. Gavin Koch gave West Central a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI sacrifice fly. The score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the sixth inning. Logan Maras had a one-out RBI double, and Koch had an RBI ground out to put West Central ahead 4-0.
Duece Sherrard had three hits. Maras had two hits, one a double, and an RBI. Koch had a hit and two RBIs. Linneman finished with a single and an RBI. Grafton Stroup also had a hit. Andrew Zimmer pitched six innings giving up just three hits and four walks while striking out six. Stroup pitched an inning and allowed a hit while striking out two.
West Central 12, Sioux Falls Christian 7
West Central scored in every inning but one and had 15 total hits in a 12-7 win to advance to the state tournament.
Sherrard scored on an error, and Linneman had an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning. Sioux Falls Christian took a lead after scoring three runs in the top of the second. West Central, however, scored two more times in the bottom of the second. Koch had an RBI triple, and Sherrard followed with an RBI single for a 4-3 lead.
Sioux Falls Christian tied the game with a run in the top of the third, but again, West Central regained the lead. Ben Sebert had an RBI single, and Koch had another RBI single for a 6-4 lead. West Central then added four runs in the bottom of the fourth. Linneman had an RBI single, Camden McDonald reached on an error that scored a run, and Sebert had a two-run single.
The Chargers pulled within two runs, 10-7, after scoring three times in the top of the fifth. West Central got two insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth. Stroup scored on a passed ball, and Maras had an RBI ground out. Sioux Falls Christian only had one base runner in the final two innings of the game.
Koch had two hits, one a triple, and two RBIs. Sebert had three hits and three RBIs. Linneman had two singles and two RBIs. Sherrard, Maras, and McDonald all had two hits and an RBI. Stroup and Caden Alfson each had a hit.
West Central will play Dakota Valley in the opening round of the State B Tournament at 5:05 p.m. on Monday, May 30th at the Birdcage in Sioux Falls.